Perils of Self-Cleaning your Oven & Other Tips
November 22nd, 2008 by TechnicianBrian
Its the time of year when people gather together, friends and family, to give thanks and to enjoy the company of loved ones. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and for service techs, one of the busier weeks of the year is upon us. See the common trend during your holiday planning is to tidy the place up a bit so those visiting your home see your picture perfect living style. In my home, the process takes the better part of the day to take the home from lived in to ready for inspection by Martha Stewart, and because the kitchen is front and center for this holiday, focus is always placed on the oven.
We use our oven quite a bit to cook things (no really) and all to often, we get the usual spill over from the dish, or maybe that random fry that didn’t want to leave with the rest of them. These items lay on the bottom of the oven and turn into this sort of black crusty goo that we ignore until Thanksgiving rolls around. Then suddenly, the oven must be cleaned, top to bottom and inside out. Many people will toil for hours, scrubbing away at their oven to make it shinny and new, while others will use modern technology and press the self-clean button on the control panel. For those people that want a nice clean oven to display to your guests, I say good for you. But for those poised to start that self-cleaning cycle, I say DON’T DO IT!
OK, maybe I am a little over reactive. Self-cleaning has been around for years, and many many people enjoy the benefits and convenience it brings to their lives. But as a technician, I tend to see more bad than good from this wondrous feature. Many times I see oven heating element failures. Control board and door latch failures. The occasional fire damage, broken door glass, and thermal limiter failures. These are not inherent problems with self-cleaning, but those unintended consequences from starting that cycle. Here is what this cycle looks like from a technicians perspective.
When you press the button, the door will either lock, or you will need to lock it with the manual latch. The heating elements will turn on and rather quickly rise the interior oven temperature in excess of 700 degrees and maintain that temperature for a preset length of time. Anything remaining inside the oven cavity will become exposed to these incinerator like temperatures, burning up and leaving a pile of ash in their place. These very high temperatures are contained within the oven liners cavity, but sometimes, a bit to much heat makes its way to areas where it shouldn’t be. When this happens, trouble is a brewing and the end result is a last minute service call to an already busy service department out fixing 100 other ovens, and thanksgiving dinner getting cooked in the microwave.
Don’t Panic. My intent is not to scare you away from using technology, but instead to educate you in the possibilities that can arise from using it. Many ovens will get self cleaned just fine this year, and if those people read this post and laugh, I am perfectly fine with that. But others will start the cycle, only to find the oven no longer works in the end. So the point is to understand what is going on during these self-cleaning cycles and to make an educated decision about pressing that button. If it worked before, it should work again. Or maybe not. But I don’t want to leave you with only these two options to clean or not to clean. I have here a few other things you can do to better your chances of hosting a successful holiday feast with a clean oven for your guests to be envious of.
First, go ahead and press the button. Yes I said it, use the self-clean function. But before you do, remove your racks and clean up as much debris from the bottom of the oven as you can. This will prevent fires and hot spots from forming during the cycle.
Second, after doing what I wrote above, run a shorter cycle. Many self-clean cycles allow you to select the length of time for the complete cycle. Choose something shorter if possible and only run the cycle as long as necessary. If your oven really isn’t to bad, make it a short one. For those that don’t have the ability to run a short cycle, set your timer for 1 hour. When the buzzer goes off, press the stop button, and take control of technology.
Third, try an alternative to self-clean such as a bit of elbow grease and some hot soapy water. It’s great fun for the kids. OK maybe not, but take some hot water, mix in some baking soda into a past and spread it over the areas with the heaviest soiled areas. Let it work on the mess for a few hours then return and use a plastic putty knife to scrape away whats left.
Fourth, take an oven safe container, fill it with water and place it on the middle oven rack. Set the oven for 350 and hit the go button. The water will heat, turn to steam, and the steam will begin to permeate everything inside the oven cavity, including the stuff stuck to the bottom. Let it heat until most of the water is gone, then once the oven has cooled enough so you can safely begin your work, get in there and start cleaning up.
Fifth, use some of the name brand oven cleaners designed for self cleaning ovens. Read the labels and ensure you are following all the directions such as providing for proper ventilation during usage. Many of the newer cleaning options are biodegradable and non-toxic, and they work rather well.
And finally, when you have your oven clean and ready for it’s presentation, clean up the spills as they happen. Cleaning up spills as they occur is much easier than letting them bake onto the bottom of the oven.
This handful of advice taken from the top of my head to help you have a wonderful holiday, and to hopefully not need to call for that last minute service call. I am sure many ovens will work just fine this year, but the reality of my job is everyone I see, is broken. So forgive me if I see things from a skewed point of view. I want you to have a happy holiday, and to be happy with your appliances. I do want to point out these comments and suggestions are my own opinion based on observations as an appliance technician. Do some other looking around and see what others have to say. Because admittedly, I am no Marta Stewart.
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